Family, friends and colleagues of a Winnipeg-born activist presumed to be captured by Hamas militants are anxiously waiting for news on the well-being of the humanitarian who has spent decades advocating for peace overseas.
Vivian Silver, 74, is believed to have been among dozens of civilians taken hostage by Hamas following the militant group’s co-ordinated weekend attack on Israeli soil.
Silver grew up in Winnipeg and moved to Israel in the 1970s.
Jeff Parness, a colleague of Silver, is praying for her return.
“As the hours went by, I kept pinging her along with everyone else I know in that area, And when it grew silent, I realized something had obviously happened,” he told Global News.
Parness, founder of disaster relief organization Stars of Hope, met Silver in 2018 and describes her as someone who “walks the walk.”
“She has gone out of her way to drive Palestinian children in Gaza to Israeli hospitals so they could get life-saving treatment,” he said. “That’s the neighbour you want to have.”
Israel declared war on Hamas after the group launched its attack on Saturday, and since then, more than 1,700 people have died.
As of Monday, Global Affairs Canada said it was aware of one Canadian who has died and three others who are missing. On Tuesday Global News confirmed a second Canadian, 22-year-old Ben Mizrachi from British Columbia, is believed to have been killed.
Yonatan Zeigen, Silver’s son, phoned his mother on Saturday morning after hearing reports that Hamas gunmen were stationed near her home in Be’eri Kibbutz, close to the Gaza border.
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“I continued talking with my mother until I heard on the phone screaming and yelling and gunshots outside her window,” he said from his home in Tel Aviv.
“So we stopped talking so (the gunmen) wouldn’t hear. We continued corresponding through WhatsApp up until the point she wrote me to say: ‘They’re inside the house.’”
Zeigen hasn’t heard from his mother since.
Lynne Mitchell, a childhood friend of Silver, calls the activist intensely principled and kind.
“She’s totally non-violent, totally committed to shared society, to a two-state solution, to democratic rights, human rights for everybody,” Mitchell said.
Global Affairs condemned the attacks Monday.
“Canada stands with Israel and fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law. Canada also calls for the immediate release of those being held hostage, and demand that they be treated in accordance with international law,” GAC said in an email.
According to its latest data on registered Canadians abroad, there are more than 2,450 Canadians known to be in Israel and 480 in Palestinian territories.
— with files from Jeff Semple and Katherine Dornian
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